Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün

Gerçi ol çāh-ı zeneḫden bulımaz kimse ḫalāṣ
Hele ṣıdḳ ile oḳı ṭurma göñül sen iḫlāṣ
Seg raḳīb öldügüni görelüm evvel hele biz
Ġāyeti bu ki anuñçün bize de ola ḳıṣāṣ
Raḳṣ urur sīne-i pür-sūzda dil şevḳ ile
Ser-i āteşde kebāb olduġı gibi raḳḳāṣ
Getürem şāyed ele dürr-i viṣālüñi diyü
Merdüm-i dīde yaşum baḥrine oldı ġavvāṣ
Söyled ol ġonca-lebi sözini dīvānuña yaz
Ger dilerseñ ki Münīr idinesin ma‘nī-i ḫāṣ

In English

1. It is true that no one finds escape from that well of the chin; still, O heart, do not stop, recite the İhlâs with sincerity. ("İḫlāṣ" means both sincerity and the Sura al-Ikhlas of the Qur'an.)

2. Let us first see that dog of a rival dead; at worst, retaliation (kısas, the death penalty for a killer) will be applied to us for him.

3. The heart dances with zeal inside the burning breast, like a dancer turning into kebab over the fire.

4. Hoping that I might perhaps lay hands on the pearl of union with you, the pupil of my eye has become a diver in the sea of my tears.

5. Make that rosebud-lipped one speak and write her words in your divan, O Münîr, if you wish to acquire meanings that are your own.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal (gazel) and is the hundred and fortieth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 140). The metre is "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif); the rhyme is the "-āṣ" sound: ḫalāṣ, iḫlāṣ, ḳıṣāṣ, raḳḳāṣ, ġavvāṣ and ḫāṣ. According to Ersoy's count of rhyme letters, only one of the Turkish ghazals in the divan rhymes in the letter sad; this ghazal is that single example. Ersoy also notes that rhymes built on such Arabic letters are rare in divans. The ghazal is found in two manuscripts: VT 131a and VY 109a. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet (matla) begins with a pun (cinas): "ḫalāṣ" (escape, salvation) and "iḫlāṣ" (sincerity) come from the same root and are very close in sound. "Çāh-ı zeneḫ" is the dimple in the chin, likened in divan poetry to a well; the lover who falls into that well never climbs out again. Still, the poet tells the heart not to give up hope and to pray with sincerity. The phrase "iḫlāṣ oḳımaḳ" is a double entendre (tevriye): it means both to act sincerely and to recite the Sura al-Ikhlas of the Qur'an. Reciting a sura to escape from the well carries a religious practice into the language of love.

The second couplet expresses anger at the rival in the language of law. "Ḳıṣāṣ" is the infliction on someone of the same harm he has done to another. The lover wants to see the rival dead and accepts the price, that is, retaliation. The phrasings "hele" (first of all), "evvel" (first) and "ġāyeti bu ki" (the worst of it is that) create an air of settling accounts close to spoken language.

In the third couplet the heart is likened to a kebab turning over the fire and at the same time to a dancer. The resemblance between meat turning and sizzling on the skewer and a dancer turning on his own axis is the basis of this simile; this explanation is our own inference. The burning breast corresponds to the fire, and the zeal and dance to the quivering of the kebab.

In the fourth couplet union is a pearl, the tears a sea, and the pupil of the eye a diver. There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among pearl, sea and diver. The pupil appearing to swim in tears gives this comparison a realistic basis.

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) is the couplet that Ersoy cites as an example when describing Münîrî's view of poetry. According to Ersoy, the poet holds that the way to acquire meanings of one's own is to make the beloved speak and to write her words into one's divan. The beloved's speech thus becomes the source of the poem; the phrase "ma‘nī-i ḫāṣ" (a special meaning) also shows the poet's concern for originality. The rosebud lip is a mouth that speaks little, like an unopened flower; making it speak therefore calls for a particular skill. This last interpretation is our own inference.

Bibliography

Online sources